Month: January 2014

Yup, I woke up sore from head to toe. Justifiably sore from head to toe, yo.

I nonetheless worked out between the (last of January) Living Social and 11:45 WODs. I knew the jerks weren’t going to go well.

Strength
Jerk
5 reps @ 70, 80, & 90% of 1RM

I only managed 3 at 90%, and didn’t care to put the bar back on the rack upon dropping after the 3rd rep. Besides, I’ve really been wanting to try the metcon since I had an opportunity to judge at the recent Carolina Fitness Challenge.

I thought that the power cleans would be the most challenging part of the metcon, but I just now realized the prescribed weight was 155, not a mere 115#. Ha! The chest to bar pull-ups are difficult today.

I complete all rounds of HSPUs unbroken. Yup, I did that. I missed the 4th rep of the first round of power cleans (in that I didn’t pull myself under the bar fast enough), but I surprisingly completed the remaining rounds with no failed reps. I did drop the bar after a few of the reps, but I quickly completed the next rep.

How the hell did that happen? Could it be that my recent focus on clean, jerks, and snatches is paying off? Could it be that I’m actually getting stronger? Time will tell.

I completed the first 2 rounds of chest to bar pull-ups unbroken, and completed all but the last round in sets of 2, usually 5 and 4. I competed the last set in reps of 5, 2, 1, & 1.

I was the only person to choose to complete as prescribed, and to not complete as 11 rounds with double under cash out. I recorded times on whiteboard so as to track progress. My goals were to finish in fewer than 45 minutes and to complete all ground to overhead as power snatches.

I completed KB swings in reps of 30, 20, 15, 15, & 19, pushups in 3 sets of 10 and then rounds of 5 until the last 8 (yup, 4 & 4), and pull-ups in reps of 2 sets of 10 and then sets of as 5 or more. My arms were aching.

Then it got interesting. I had planned on completing wall ball shots in reps of 10, but felt strong and finished 13 out of the gate. And then I couldn’t breathe. I walked to the plyo box and sat my ass down. I thought, “Is this what Jay felt like last week?” I forced myself to complete wall ball shots, often completing 10 at a time — but always resting on the box between sets.

Slam balls in 3 sets of 10 and then 14. Whew. Front squats in reps of 22 & 11. Whew. Power jerks in rounds of 5 or 6. Whew. Power snatches one rep at a time.

While completing doubles unders I had this thought: I might not be able to finish in few than 45 minutes.

I was relieved when I did.

There were many times during the workout when I thought: I should’ve done rounds instead. Dammit.

Great job today, Deborah, Deirdre, Susie, Angelina, Chris, and Tom!

Not a single person showed up for Living Social CrossFit session at 3, but Stephen and Tijuana attended Open Gym. Tijuana and I held hands. That’s the best way to learn box jumps!

Coach Chris led the 4 pm session, and I just couldn’t resist the temptation. Yup, this workout was so nice that I did it twice.

My goal was to complete all 11 rounds in unbroken reps. I did that. Yup, I did that. For a slight change of pace, I used a 60# KB and completed Russian swings. I once again lifted 85#.

I began with a stack of 11 poker chips, and would move 1 poker chip after completing a round. About halfway through I thought, “I might get confused as to which stack represents finished rounds.” I then knocked over the finished stack.

After completing the next round I noticed that one of the poker chips was leaning on the stack and I thought, “Did I knock that off the stack by mistake? Does that chip represent a finished round?” Liz and I were working side by side, and I know that I had just lapped her so I asked her how many rounds she had completed. Whew. She confirmed that the chip did indeed represent a finish round.

I don’t know that I could’ve done 12 rounds.

I glanced at the clock after completing the 11th round and it read 33 minutes and change. I grabbed my jump rope off the the pull-up rig where I had left it and walk — I certainly did run — to the lobby. I completed double unders in rounds of 25 until last 22. I was done. Dee. Oh. En. Ee.

I ran to the workout area and quickly noted the time of 38:20, 4:35 minutes faster than earlier in the day. I’ll take it.

The two workouts couldn’t have felt more different, and yes, completing as prescribed was much, much more challenging.

This was kinda fun. I set a goal to make it through round 10 with unbroken dead-lifts, i.e., no dropping the bar, and unbroken toes to bar. As I knew I’d be able to complete unbroken lateral bar hops, I didn’t set that as a goal. Sadly, I only made it through the round of 8 toes to bar unbroken. Dammit. For the round of 9 I completed 7 & 2 and for the round of 10 I completed 8 & 2. Dammit. I did, however, complete dead-lifts unbroken through round of 10. Yay!

Total =11 rounds + 8 dead-lifts

I wore a 45# weight vest and placed a 25# plate on my back for a total of 70#, which is half of my body weight. I held the plank for 3:03. That. Was. Tough.

Today was quite a day at CrossFit Surmount, as Angelina, Ashley, Lorraine, and Michelle were all able to complete their first ever toes to bar! The programming is working, yo.

This past Friday I worked out with the 11:45 athletes, including Jeff. We were to establish 1RM for jerk. I felt incredibly weak, and was only able to jerk a mere 155#, well below previous 1RM. Gah! I thought, “Well at least I’ll be able to redeem myself during the metcon.”

4-8-12-16-12-8-4SDHPs (95)BS

Sumo dead-lift high pulls and back squats at 95#? No problem. My goal was to complete in unbroken reps, something I could — and should be able to easily — do. The rounds of 4 and 8 went well. During the round of 12 SDHPs I lost focus and stopped after the 8th rep. I said out loud, “That was only 8. What just happened?” I completed the remaining 4 reps. After completing just 8 BSs, I stopped to shake out my legs. Huh? Why was I feeling so weak and lethargic? I completed the round of 16 SDHPs in reps of 4, and shook out my legs 2 or 3 times during the round of 16 BS. I was only able to complete 4 SDHPs at a time. On one hand, the reps were good, i.e., hands were above clavicle and body was at full extension. On the other hand, WTF? Only 4 at a time? My time was a disappointing 7:50.

And then it hit me: a cold. Dammit. I began sneezing, my nose began running, and my head felt like it was going to explode. I coached the 3, 4, 5:15 and 6:30 session, and then went to sleep.

I suffered through the cold the entire weekend, and wasn’t able to watch CrossFit Surmount athletes compete at the NCFit Open. Dammit. Everyone did a stellar job, and I received frequent updates and (often realtime) recordings. Congratulations to you all!

I didn’t exercise Saturday or Sunday, and I only did the metcon today. I’m feeling better, but I’m still rather weak.

I decided to give “Marguerita” another try.

Benchmark “Marguerita“50 reps for time OR 22-minute AMRAPBurpee/Pushup/Jumping Jack/Sit-up/Handstand

I knew better what to expect, and I only 1 goal: to go all out and unbroken. I used 10 poker chips this time, and moved a poker chip after completing 5 reps.

To save time, I jumped back to plank for pushup, i.e., I didn’t step back with 1 foot at a time. I also jumped feet to hands after pushups, and immediately completed jumping jack.

I positioned myself far enough away from the wall that I could do a freestanding handstand. If a foot did lightly touch the wall, I would remove the foot and hold a freestanding handstand for a count of 1.

I glanced at the clock when I had completed 25 reps: 8:06. I knew I could easily beat my previous time of 20:01.

I always record my workouts, and I’m glad I did so today. As I was completing the last 5 reps I had this thought: What if I miscounted? What if I only did 4 instead of 5 reps during some of the rounds? I then decided to do an extra 5 rounds just in case. I have since reviewed the recoding and I had completed 50 rounds in 16:09 (and 55 rounds in 17:23).

I’m very much liking growing a coaching staff, and today was the first day that the 11:45, 4, and 5:15 sessions were all coached by someone other than yours truly. How awesome is that?

Due to inclement weather, the 6 am session was cancelled. There were but 3 who attended the 8:30 session, including Coach Emily. I worked out with my fellow CrossFitters who attended the 11:45 am session that she led. .

StrengthRow 2K

Yup, after having witnessed this this past Saturday, I wanted CFSers to give it a try. Yup, I also wanted to give it a try. The last time I rowed 2K was way back in January of 2011 in a time of 7:33. I’m not quite the endurance athlete I was back in the day, and I am a little older now, too.

I also ate an apple smothered in peanut butter just prior to attending the session. I was secretly hoping that I’d have an excuse to postpone time trial until later in the day. I was thinking this very thought when Emily said, “Paul, why don’t you go the first round?” Dammit. I couldn’t then say, “No!”

I adjusted the damper and flex foot, set the monitor for 2K time trial, and I was off. Having rowed a mere 250m, I wanted to quit. With 750m still remaining I seriously considered stopping. I was breathing and grunting loudly, and I began to think it was going to be a distraction to others. But I just couldn’t stop. I focused on strokes/minute and power curve, and remained consistent. “Just hold on!” I thought. I make to to 1K. Halfway there. I really, really, really wanted to quit. I kept going. I set distance goals, i.e., 750m, 500m, 250m. I didn’t start my finishing sprint until there was 150m remaining — and I really should have started the sprint early.

My time was 7:30.0, a PR. I got off of the rower, crawled away, and the sprawled on the floor face down. I was gasping for air.

This was a tremendous amount of fun, and I’m very glad that I programmed. I began with 75#, increasing the weight by 5 or 10# most rounds. I wanted to complete the last rep lifting my body weight of 140, but after a failed attempt at hang power clean I lowered weight to 135#. Dammit. This also meant that I was the last to finish the round, and I felt all eyes upon me. ‘Twas somewhat disconcerting, as I’m so used to working out by myself.

I most certainly prefer working out with others, and I look forward to continuing to do so!

Great job coaching, Emily!

Coach Chris led the 4 pm session, and I decided to give it another try. This time I was able to complete the hang power clean at 140#, i.e., my body weight. Yay!

Both the 4 and 5:15 sessions were well attended, and Coaches Chris and Emily did a very nice job leading the sessions.

Eighteen athletes attended the 6:30 session. Once again, I was delighted with how cooperative folks are, and no one gets upset about having to share equipment, take turns, etc. I also witnessed improvement by most athletes. While I’m reluctant to call out specific individuals, Imma gonna do so anyways: Angie, Lauren, Jay, Kevin, and Michelle.

I settled on 65# for PS, and completed 19 and 17 unbroken reps the first and second rounds, respectively. I completed the remaining 3 rounds in sets of 2, completing 10 & 4, 8 & 5, and 6 & 6 from third, fourth, and final rounds, respectively, for a total of 75 reps. I held the plank for 1 minute each round for a total of 5 minutes.

I didn’t complete strength today, and that’s okay. I may attempt later this week.

“Marguerita”50 reps for time of:Burpee/Push-up/Jumping-Jack/Sit-up/Handstand

This is a new benchmark WOD, as was posted on the main site a few days ago. The hardest part of the workout was keeping track of rounds! I had a stack of 5 chips and a stack of 10 chips; thus I’d move a chip from the stack of 10 after moving all 5 chips from the stack of 5. Got it? Good. Going on.

So that I wouldn’t hurt my wrist, I would gently touch the wall with 1 foot when finishing handstand.

My biggest mistake was starting off too slow. I had set a goal to finish in 20 minutes, and had only completed 25 rounds when the clock read 11:30. I did pick up the pace, and missed my goal by a second. Dammit.